Ablation is defined as the removal of material from the surface of an object by vaporization, chipping, or other erosive processes. The magnitude that a star would have if it were viewed from a distance of 10 parsecs (32.62 light years) from the earth The process in which incident radiated energy is retained without reflection or transmission on passing through a medium; "the absorption of photons by atoms or molecules" A measure of the rate of decrease in the intensity of electromagnetic radiation (as light) as it passes through a given substance; the fraction of incident radiant energy absorbed per unit mass or thickness of an absorber; "absorptance equals 1 minus transmittance" The spectrum of electromagnetic radiation that has passed through a medium that absorbed radiation of certain wavelengths The ratio of the number of atoms of a specific isotope of an element to the total number of isotopes present The rate of change of velocity The formation of a celestial object by the effect of gravity pulling together surrounding objects and gases A stony meteor lacking chondrules The study of the physical properties of sound A wave that transmits sound The process of adapting to something (such as environmental conditions) Any process that occurs without gain or loss of heat The act of making something different The accumulation of molecules of a gas to form a thin film on the surface of a solid A stony meteorite consisting of silicate minerals A glow sometimes seen in the sky after sunset How long something has existed To grow old or older Make older The mixture of gases surrounding the Earth A system that keeps air cool and dry Pollution of the atmosphere The ratio of reflected to incident light An annual publication containing tabular information in a particular field or fields arranged according to the calendar of a given year A positively charged particle that is the nucleus of the helium atom; emitted from natural or radioactive isotopes An instrument that measures the height above ground; used in navigation A pungent gas compounded of nitrogen and hydrogen (NH3) Electronic equipment that increases strength of signals passing through it The maximum displacement of a periodic wave Greatness of magnitude An investigation of the component parts of a whole and their relations in making up the whole The abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relations A branch of mathematics involving calculus and the theory of limits; sequences and series and integration and differentiation A gauge for recording the speed and direction of wind The product of the momentum of a rotating body and its distance from the axis of rotation The rate of change of the angular position of a rotating body; usually expressed in radians per second or radians per minute The property of being anisotropic; having a different value when measured in different directions The parallax of a celestial body using two points in the earth's orbit around the sun as the baseline Only a thin outer disk of the sun can be seen Period between successive perigees; approximately 27.5546 days Time of the earth's revolution from perihelion to perihelion again; 365 days and 6 hr and 13 min and 53.1 sec Position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun) The point opposite in direction from the solar apex; the point the solar system is moving away from An electrical device that sends or receives radio signals Matter consisting of elementary particles that are the antiparticles of those making up normal substances The antiparticle of a neutrino The point of maximum displacement in a periodic system A particle that has the same mass as another particle but has opposite values for its other properties; interaction of a particle and its antiparticle results in annihilation and the production of radiant energy An unstable negatively charged proton; the antiparticle of a proton A device that controls amount of light admitted The point on the celestial sphere toward which the sun and solar system appear to be moving relative to the fixed stars Apoapsis in solar orbit; the point in the orbit of a planet or comet that is at the greatest distance from the sun Apoapsis in orbit; the point of greatest distance of the elliptical orbit of an astronomical object from its center of attraction, which is generally the center of mass of the system. A domed or vaulted recess or projection on a building especially the east end of a church; usually contains the altar Electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field A continuous portion of a circle A celestial globe consisting of metal hoops; used by early astronomers to determine the positions of stars An orderly arrangement; "an array of troops in battle order" An impressive display; "it was a bewildering array of books"; "his tools were in an orderly array on the basement wall" Especially fine or decorative clothing An arrangement of aerials spaced to give desired directional characteristics Lay out orderly or logically in a line or as if in a line; "lay out the clothes"; "lay out the arguments" Align oneself with a group or a way of thinking Man-made equipment that orbits around the earth or the moon The point at which an orbit crosses the ecliptic plane going north Any of numerous small celestial bodies composed of rock and metal that move around the sun (mainly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter) Shaped like a star The region of interplanetary space between Mars and Jupiter where most asteroids are found (ophthalmology) impaired eyesight resulting usually from irregular conformation of the cornea; common in nearsighted people (optics) defect in an optical system in which light rays from a single point fail to converge in a single focal point The branch of biology concerned with the effects of outer space on living organisms and the search for extraterrestrial life The branch of astronomy that studies the motion of natural and artificial bodies in space An early form of sextant A pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon The branch of astronomy that deals with the measurement of the position and motion of celestial bodies A physicist who studies astronomy A unit of length used for distances within the solar system; equal to the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun (approximately 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers) The branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole The branch of astronomy concerned with the physical and chemical properties of celestial bodies (Greek mythology) a Titan who was forced by Zeus to bear the sky on his shoulders A collection of maps in book form The 1st cervical vertebra A figure of a man used as a supporting column A particular environment or surrounding influence; "there was an atmosphere of excitement" A unit of pressure: the pressure that will support a column of mercury 760 mm high at sea level and 0 degrees centigrade The weather or climate at some place; "the atmosphere was thick with fog" The envelope of gases surrounding any celestial body (physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything A timepiece that derives its time scale from the vibration of atoms or molecules The branch of physics that studies the internal structure of atomic nuclei (physics) a spectrum of radiation caused by electron transitions within an atom; the series of spectrum lines is characteristic of the element Weakening in force or intensity; "attenuation in the volume of the sound" The property of something that has been weakened or reduced in thickness or density The first light of day; "we got up before dawn"; "they talked until morning" An atmospheric phenomenon consisting of bands of light caused by charged solar particles following the earth's magnetic lines of force (Roman mythology) goddess of the dawn; counterpart of Greek Eos September 22 (astronomy) the equinoctial point that lies in the constellation of Virgo A straight line through a body or figure that satisfies certain conditions The main stem or central part about which plant organs or plant parts such as branches are arranged In World War II the alliance of Germany and Italy in 1936 which later included Japan and other nations; "the Axis opposed the Allies in World War II" A group of countries in special alliance The 2nd cervical vertebra; serves as a pivot for turning the head The center around which something rotates The azimuth of a celestial body is the angle between the vertical plane containing it and the plane of the meridian A person's social heritage: previous experience or training; "he is a lawyer with a sports background" The part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground; "he posed her against a background of rolling hills" Information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem; "the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident" Extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured; "they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals" Relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation; "when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background" The state of the environment in which a situation exists; "you can't do that in a university setting" (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear Scenery hung at back of stage Understate the importance or quality of; "he played down his royal ancestry" Extraneous noise contaminating sound measurements that cannot be separated from the desired signal Radiation coming from sources other than those being observed An instrument that measures atmospheric pressure Any of the elementary particles having a mass equal to or greater than that of a proton and that participate in strong interactions; a hadron with a baryon number of +1 A bowl-shaped vessel; usually used for holding food or liquids; "she mixed the dough in a large basin" The quantity that a basin will hold; "a basinful of water" A natural depression in the surface of the land often with a lake at the bottom of it; "the basin of the Great Salt Lake" The entire geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries; an area characterized by all runoff being conveyed to the same outlet; "flood control in the Missouri basin" A bathroom sink that is permanently installed and connected to a water supply and drainpipe; where you can wash your hands and face; "he ran some water in the basin and splashed it on his face" (cosmology) the theory that the universe originated sometime between 10 billion and 20 billion years ago from the cataclysmic explosion of a small volume of matter at extremely high density and temperature A system of two stars that revolve around each other under their mutual gravitation A positional system of numeration that uses binary digits and a radix of two The science that studies living organisms Characteristic life processes and phenomena of living organisms; "the biology of viruses" All the plant and animal life of a particular region The ratio of live births in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 population per year A region of space resulting from the collapse of a star; extremely high gravitational field A reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly Closing the eyes intermittently and rapidly; "he stood blinking in the bright sunlight" Informal intensifiers; "what a bally (or blinking) nuisance"; "a bloody fool"; "a crashing bore"; "you flaming idiot" An especially luminous meteor (sometimes exploding) An instrument that measures heat radiation; extremely sensitive (physics) statistical law obeyed by a system of particles whose wave function is not changed when two particles are interchanged (the Pauli exclusion principle does not apply) Any particle that obeys Bose-Einstein statistics but not the Pauli exclusion principle; all nuclei with an even mass number are bosons The layer of slower flow of a fluid past a surface A structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a river or canal or railway etc. A circuit consisting of two branches (4 arms arranged in a diamond configuration) across which a meter is connected Something resembling a bridge in form or function; "his letters provided a bridge across the centuries" The hard ridge that forms the upper part of the nose; "her glasses left marks on the bridge of her nose" Any of various card games based on whist for four players A wooden support that holds the strings up A denture anchored to teeth on either side of missing teeth The link between two lenses; rests on the nose An upper deck where a ship is steered and the captain stands Connect or reduce the distance between Make a bridge across; "bridge a river" Cross over on a bridge The location of a visual perception along a continuum from black to white Intelligence as manifested in being quick and witty The quality of being luminous; emitting or reflecting light; "its luminosity is measured relative to that of our sun" A hollow globule of gas (e.g., air or carbon dioxide) A speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control; "his proposal was nothing but a house of cards"; "a real estate bubble" An impracticable and illusory idea; "he didn't want to burst the newcomer's bubble" A dome-shaped covering made of transparent glass or plastic Form, produce, or emit bubbles; "The soup was bubbling" Flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise; "babbling brooks" Rise in bubbles or as if in bubbles; "bubble to the surface" Cause to form bubbles; "bubble gas through a liquid" Expel gas from the stomach; "In China it is polite to burp at the table" Something that bulges out or is protuberant or projects from its surroundings; "the gun in his pocket made an obvious bulge"; "the hump of a camel"; "he stood on the rocky prominence"; "the occipital protuberance was well developed"; "the bony excrescence between its horns" Swell or protrude outwards; "His stomach bulged after the huge meal" Bulge out; form a bulge outward, or be so full as to appear to bulge Bulge outward; "His eyes popped" Cause to bulge or swell outwards The act of exploding or bursting; "the explosion of the firecrackers awoke the children"; "the burst of an atom bomb creates enormous radiation aloft" Rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms; "our fusillade from the left flank caught them by surprise" A sudden flurry of activity (often for no obvious reason); "a burst of applause"; "a fit of housecleaning" A sudden intense happening; "an outburst of heavy rain"; "a burst of lightning" Come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure; "The bubble burst" Force out or release suddenly and often violently something pent up; "break into tears"; "erupt in anger" Burst outward, usually with noise; "The champagne bottle exploded" Move suddenly, energetically, or violently; "He burst out of the house into the cool night" Be in a state of movement or action; "The room abounded with screaming children"; "The garden bristled with toddlers" Emerge suddenly; "The sun burst into view" Cause to burst; "The ice broke the pipe" Break open or apart suddenly and forcefully; "The dam burst" A quantity of explosive to be set off at one time; "this cartridge has a powder charge of 50 grains" A system of timekeeping that defines the beginning and length and divisions of the year A list or register of events (appointments or social events or court cases etc); "I have you on my calendar for next Monday" A tabular array of the days (usually for one year) Enter into a calendar The act of checking or adjusting (by comparison with a standard) the accuracy of a measuring instrument; "the thermometer needed calibration" Equipment for taking photographs (usually consisting of a lightproof box with a lens at one end and light-sensitive film at the other) Television equipment consisting of a lens system that focuses an image on a photosensitive mosaic that is scanned by an electron beam A lens that focuses the image in a camera A ravine formed by a river in an area with little rainfall The act of forcibly dispossessing an owner of property A process whereby a star or planet holds an object in its gravitational field Any process in which an atomic or nuclear system acquires an additional particle The act of taking of a person by force The removal of an opponent's piece from the chess board Succeed in representing or expressing something intangible; "capture the essence of Spring"; "capture an idea" Attract; cause to be enamored; "She captured all the men's hearts" Succeed in catching or seizing, especially after a chase; "We finally got the suspect"; "Did you catch the thief?" Bring about the capture of an elementary particle or celestial body and causing it enter a new orbit; "This nucleus has captured the slow-moving neutrons"; "The star captured a comet" Take possession of by force, as after an invasion; "the invaders seized the land and property of the inhabitants"; "The army seized the town"; "The militia captured the castle" Capture as if by hunting, snaring, or trapping; "I caught a rabbit in the trap today" A heavy odorless colorless gas formed during respiration and by the decomposition of organic substances; absorbed from the air by plants in photosynthesis A toxic colorless flammable liquid (CS2); used in the manufacture of rayon and cellophane and carbon tetrachloride and as a solvent for rubber An odorless very poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon A book or pamphlet containing an enumeration of things; "he found it in the Sears catalog" A complete list of things; usually arranged systematically; "it does not pretend to be a catalog of his achievements" Make a catalogue, compile a catalogue; "She spends her weekends cataloguing" Make an itemized list or catalog of; classify; "He is cataloguing his photographic negatives" A negatively charged electrode that is the source of electrons entering an electrical device The positively charged terminal of a voltaic cell or storage battery that supplies current Any chemical substance that burns or destroys living tissue Harsh or corrosive in tone; "an acerbic tone piercing otherwise flowery prose"; "a barrage of acid comments"; "her acrid remarks make her many enemies"; "bitter words"; "blistering criticism"; "caustic jokes about political assassination, talk-show hosts and medical ethics"; "a sulfurous denunciation"; "a vitriolic critique" Of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action The great circle on the celestial sphere midway between the celestial poles The branch of astronomy concerned with the application of Newton's laws of motion to the motions of heavenly bodies One of two points of intersection of the Earth's axis and the celestial sphere The apparent surface of the imaginary sphere on which celestial bodies appear to be projected An area that is approximately central within some larger region; "it is in the center of town"; "they ran forward into the heart of the struggle"; "they were in the eye of the storm" The piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher; "he hit the ball to deep center" A building dedicated to a particular activity; "they were raising money to build a new center for research" A point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure The choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story" The object upon which interest and attention focuses; "his stories made him the center of the party" A cluster of nerve cells governing a specific bodily process; "in most people the speech center is in the left hemisphere" The middle of a military or naval formation; "they had to reinforce the center" (basketball) the person who plays center on a basketball team (football) the person who plays center on the line of scrimmage and snaps the ball to the quarterback; "the center fumbled the handoff" A place where some particular activity is concentrated; "they received messages from several centers" Politically moderate persons; centrists (ice hockey) the person who plays center on a hockey team The sweet central portion of a piece of candy that is enclosed in chocolate or some other covering Mercantile establishment consisting of a carefully landscaped complex of shops representing leading merchandisers; usually includes restaurants and a convenient parking area; a modern version of the traditional marketplace; "a good plaza should have a movie house"; "they spent their weekends at the local malls" The position on a hockey team of the player who participates in the face off at the beginning of the game (American football) the position of the player on the line of scrimmage who puts the ball in play; "it is a center's responsibility to get the football to the quarterback" A position on a basketball team of the player who participates in the jump that starts the game Center upon; "Her entire attention centered on her children"; "Our day revolved around our work" Direct one's attention on something; "Please focus on your studies and not on your hobbies" Move into the center; "That vase in the picture is not centered" Equally distant from the extremes Of or belonging to neither the right nor the left politically or intellectually Point representing the mean position of the matter in a body The outward force on a body moving in a curved path around another body The inward force on a body moving in a curved path around another body (Roman mythology) goddess of agriculture; counterpart of Greek Demeter The largest asteroid and the first discovered Any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter Luminescence resulting from a chemical reaction as the oxidation of luciferin in fireflies The science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions The chemical composition and properties of a substance or object; "the chemistry of soil" The way two individuals relate to each other; "their chemistry was wrong from the beginning -- they hated each other"; "a mysterious alchemy brought them together" A rock of meteoric origin containing chondrules An optical aberration in which the image has colored fringes A gaseous layer of the sun's atmosphere (extending from the photosphere to the corona) that is visible during a total eclipse of the sun An accurate clock (especially used in navigation) The official time in a local region (adjusted for location around the Earth); established by law or custom The act of distributing things into classes or categories of the same type A group of people or things arranged by class or category The basic cognitive process of arranging into classes or categories Restriction imposed by the government on documents or weapons that are available only to certain authorized people A timepiece that shows the time of day Measure the time or duration of an event or action or the person who performs an action in a certain period of time; "he clocked the runners" (cosmology) a universe that is spatially closed and in which there is sufficient matter to halt the expansion that began with the big bang; the visible matter is only 10 percent of the matter required for closure but there may be large amounts of dark matter Any collection of particles (e.g., smoke or dust) or gases that is visible A visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude Out of touch with reality; "his head was in the clouds" A cause of worry or gloom or trouble; "the only cloud on the horizon was the possibility of dissent by the French" Suspicion affecting your reputation; "after that mistake he was under a cloud" A group of many things in the air or on the ground; "a swarm of insects obscured the light"; "clouds of blossoms"; "it discharged a cloud of spores" Make overcast or cloudy; "Fall weather often overcasts our beaches" Make less visible or unclear; "The stars are obscured by the clouds"; "the big elm tree obscures our view of the valley" Billow up in the form of a cloud; "The smoke clouded above the houses" Make gloomy or depressed; "Their faces were clouded with sadness" Place under suspicion or cast doubt upon; "sully someone's reputation" Make less clear; "the stroke clouded memories of her youth" Colour with streaks or blotches of different shades Make milky or dull; "The chemical clouded the liquid to which it was added" The sound of a horse's hoofs hitting on a hard surface A grouping of a number of similar things; "a bunch of trees"; "a cluster of admirers" Come together as in a cluster or flock; "The poets constellate in this town every summer" Gather or cause to gather into a cluster; "She bunched her fingers into a fist" A thin layer covering something; "a second coat of paint" A decorative texture or appearance of a surface (or the substance that gives it that appearance); "the boat had a metallic finish"; "he applied a coat of a clear finish"; "when the finish is too thin it is difficult to apply evenly" A heavy fabric suitable for coats The work of applying something; "the doctor prescribed a topical application of iodine"; "a complete bleach requires several applications"; "the surface was ready for a coating of paint"; Optical device used to follow the path of a celestial body and reflect its light into a telescope; has a movable and a fixed mirror The state of cohering or sticking together Logical and orderly and consistent relation of parts An abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion; "the commander's prostration demoralized his men" A natural event caused by something suddenly falling down or caving in; "the roof is in danger of collapse"; "the collapse of the old star under its own gravity" The act of throwing yourself down; "he landed on the bed with a great flop" A sudden large decline of business or the prices of stocks (especially one that causes additional failures) Break down, literally or metaphorically; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice" Collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack Fold or close up; "fold up your umbrella"; "collapse the music stand" Fall apart; "the building crumbled after the explosion"; "Negotiations broke down" Suffer a nervous breakdown Lose significance, effectiveness, or value; "The school system is collapsing"; "The stock market collapsed" The accurate adjustment of the line of sight of a telescope A small telescope attached to a large telescope to use in setting the line of the larger one Optical device consisting of a tube containing a convex achromatic lens at one end and a slit at the other with the slit at the focus of the lens; light rays leave the slit as a parallel beam (physics) a brief event in which two or more bodies come together; "the collision of the particles resulted in an exchange of energy and a change of direction" An accident resulting from violent impact of a moving object; "three passengers were killed in the collision"; "the collision of the two ships resulted in a serious oil spill" A conflict of opposed ideas or attitudes or goals; "a collision of interests" A visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect; "a white color is made up of many different wavelengths of light" Interest and variety and intensity; "the Puritan Period was lacking in color"; "the characters were delineated with exceptional vividness" The timbre of a musical sound; "the recording fails to capture the true color of the original music" A race with skin pigmentation different from the white race (especially Blacks) An outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading; "he hoped his claims would have a semblance of authenticity"; "he tried to give his falsehood the gloss of moral sanction"; "the situation soon took on a different color" Any material used for its color; "she used a different color for the trim" (physics) the characteristic of quarks that determines their role in the strong interaction; "each flavor of quarks comes in three colors" The appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation Add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" Affect as in thought or feeling; "My personal feelings color my judgment in this case"; "The sadness tinged his life" Modify or bias; "His political ideas color his lectures" Decorate with colors; "color the walls with paint in warm tones" Give a deceptive explanation or excuse for; "color a lie" Change color, often in an undesired manner; "The shirts discolored" Having or capable of producing colors; "color film"; "he rented a color television"; "marvelous color illustrations" Quantitative chemical analysis by color using a colorimeter The normal ability to see colors A state of deep and often prolonged unconsciousness; usually the result of disease or injury (botany) a usually terminal tuft of bracts (as in the pineapple) or tuft of hairs (especially on certain seeds) (astronomy) the luminous cloud of particles surrounding the frozen nucleus of a comet; forms as the comet approaches the sun and is warmed (astronomy) a relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a highly elliptical orbit The act of examining resemblances; "they made a comparison of noise levels"; "the fractions selected for comparison must require pupils to consider both numerator and denominator" Relation based on similarities and differences Qualities that are comparable; "no comparison between the two books"; "beyond compare" An abstract part of something; "jealousy was a component of his character"; "two constituents of a musical composition are melody and harmony"; "the grammatical elements of a sentence"; "a key factor in her success"; "humor: an effective ingredient of a speech" Something determined in relation to something that includes it; "he wanted to feel a part of something bigger than himself"; "I read a portion of the manuscript"; "the smaller component is hard to reach"; "the animal constituent of plankton" An artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up; especially a part that can be separated from or attached to a system; "spare components for cars"; "a component or constituent element of a system" The spatial property resulting from the arrangement of parts in relation to each other and to the whole; "harmonious composition is essential in a serious work of art" The way in which someone or something is composed A mixture of ingredients A musical work that has been created; "the composition is written in four movements" Musical creation The act of creating written works; "writing was a form of therapy for him"; "it was a matter of disputed authorship" Art and technique of printing with movable type An essay (especially one written as an assignment); "he got an A on his composition" Something that is created by arranging several things to form a unified whole; "he envied the composition of their faculty" A machine for performing calculations automatically An expert at calculation (or at operating calculating machines) (computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute; "the program required several hundred lines of code" (computer science) the technique of representing the real world by a computer program; "a simulation should imitate the internal processes and not merely the results of the thing being simulated" The branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures The procedure of calculating; determining something by mathematical or logical methods (psychoanalysis) an unconscious process whereby two ideas or images combine into a single symbol; especially in dreams The process of changing from a gaseous to a liquid or solid state Atmospheric moisture that has condensed because of cold The process or result of becoming smaller or pressed together; "the contraction of a gas on cooling" A shortened version of a written work The act of increasing the density of something The transmission of heat or electricity or sound The temporal property of two things happening at the same time; "the interval determining the coincidence gate is adjustable" The state of being joined together An uninflected function word that serves to conjoin words or phrases or clauses or sentences The grammatical relation between linguistic units (words or phrases or clauses) that are connected by a conjunction (astronomy) apparent meeting or passing of two or more celestial bodies in the same degree of the zodiac Something that joins or connects A quantity that does not vary A number representing a quantity assumed to have a fixed value in a specified mathematical context; "the velocity of light is a constant" Unvarying in nature; "maintained a constant temperature"; "principles of unvarying validity" Steadfast in purpose or devotion or affection; "a man constant in adherence to his ideals"; "a constant lover"; "constant as the northern star" Uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing; "the ceaseless thunder of surf"; "in constant pain"; "night and day we live with the incessant noise of the city"; "the never-ending search for happiness"; "the perpetual struggle to maintain standards in a democracy"; "man's unceasing warfare with drought and isolation"; "unremitting demands of hunger" An arrangement of parts or elements; "the outcome depends on the configuration of influences at the time" A configuration of stars as seen from the earth The gradual movement and formation of continents (as described by plate tectonics) One of the large landmasses of the earth; "there are seven continents"; "pioneers had to cross the continent on foot" The European mainland; "Englishmen like to visit the Continent but they wouldn't like to live there" Having control over urination and defecation Abstaining from sexual intercourse; "celibate priests" A map having contour lines through points of equal elevation (physiology) a shortening or tensing of a part or organ (especially of a muscle or muscle fiber) A word formed from two or more words by omitting or combining some sounds; "`won't' is a contraction of `will not'"; "`o'clock' is a contraction of `of the clock'" The act of decreasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope The opposition or dissimilarity of things that are compared; "in contrast to", "by contrast" The act of distinguishing by comparing differences A conceptual separation or distinction; "there is a narrow line between sanity and insanity" The perceptual effect of the juxtaposition of very different colors The range of optical density and tone on a photographic negative or print (or the extent to which adjacent areas on a television screen differ in brightness) Put in opposition to show or emphasize differences; "The middle school teacher contrasted her best student's work with that of her weakest student" To show differences when compared; be different; "the students contrast considerably in their artistic abilities" A system for controlling the operation of another system The transfer of heat through a fluid (liquid or gas) caused by molecular motion (meteorology) the vertical movement of heat or other properties by massive motion within the atmosphere The process of becoming cooler; a falling temperature A mechanism for keeping something cool; "the cooling was overhead fans" Greenwich Mean Time updated with leap seconds A system that uses coordinates to establish position A small group of indispensable persons or things; "five periodicals make up the core of their publishing program" The center of an object; "the ball has a titanium core" The central part of the Earth A cylindrical sample of soil or rock obtained with a hollow drill An organization founded by James Leonard Farmer in 1942 to work for racial equality The central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work (computer science) a tiny ferrite toroid formerly used in a random access memory to store one bit of data; now superseded by semiconductor memories; "each core has three wires passing through it, providing the means to select and detect the contents of each bit" The chamber of a nuclear reactor containing the fissile material where the reaction takes place A bar of magnetic material (as soft iron) that passes through a coil and serves to increase the inductance of the coil Remove the core or center from; "core an apple" The outermost region of the sun's atmosphere; visible as a white halo during a solar eclipse (botany) the trumpet-shaped or cup-shaped outgrowth of the corolla of a daffodil or narcissus flower An electrical discharge accompanied by ionization of surrounding atmosphere One or more circles of light seen around a luminous object (anatomy) any structure that resembles a crown in shape A long cigar with blunt ends The act of offering an improvement to replace a mistake; setting right A quantity that is added or subtracted in order to increase the accuracy of a scientific measure Something substituted for an error A rebuke for making a mistake A drop in stock market activity or stock prices following a period of increases; "market runups are invariably followed by a correction" The act of punishing; "the offenders deserved the harsh discipline they received" Treatment of a specific defect; "the correction of his vision with eye glasses" A reciprocal relation between two or more things A statistic representing how closely two variables co-vary; it can vary from -1 (perfect negative correlation) through 0 (no correlation) to +1 (perfect positive correlation); "what is the correlation between those two variables?" A statistical relation between two or more variables such that systematic changes in the value of one variable are accompanied by systematic changes in the other